So, Where Are We Now?

In the past, I've written some columns about the state of things from the point of view of my leaving Wizards of the Coast, the development of Malhavoc Press, and the d20 industry (here and here). Well, it's been almost a year since then, and it's the start of a new calendar year, so let's take a look at where we stand now.

Things seem to still be going strong. All the major players are still in the game, and lots of new publishers have jumped in as well. So many, in fact, that I can't keep track of all of them anymore. And I do this for a living. That should probably say something. I'll let you draw your own conclusion. (Maybe the conclusion is that I should try harder to keep track.)

We saw a lot of good products in 2002. Malhavoc products aside, 2002 saw the release of Spycraft, Nyambe, some nifty Rokugan products, Everquest, Book of the Righteous, and a batch of nice monster books: Tome of Horrors, Monsternomicon, and Liber Bestarius. I thought they were all quite good. And, of course, I didn't think Call of Cthulhu d20 and Book of Vile Darkness were too shabby, either, but look who's talking.

With a few exceptions, though, most of the d20 stuff out there seems to be more of the same. I'm surprised, for example, that people are still doing books about a single class. Oh, I'm sure there's more to be said about fighters or rogues, but with so many choices out there, why do the book now? It does seem like things might be in a bit of a rut. There's nothing wrong with the old standbys, and we'll always need new monster books, new adventures, new books with spells and items, etc. But I would have thought there'd be more innovation by this point. And no, I don't mean, "Adepts! No one's done a book about adepts yet!" I mean something really different. I myself could be found guilty of this one during 2002. While I'm proud of each and every product we did, you could accuse Malhavoc Press of just doing more books about magic, more adventures, more character books, and so on. (Actually, Requiem for a God disproves my point. It was pretty innovative, I think -- the product launched the concept of the event book.)

Here at Malhavoc Press...
In an article about a year ago I wrote: "After Book of Hallowed Might's release, I'm going to lock myself in a room for a number of months, working on a very special product. It's going to be big, and it's going to be cool. And big. And like nothing you've seen before. I can't reveal many details yet, but we're talking about a major hardcover release. I know that you're tired of hearing about secret projects from me at this point, but trust me -- this is the book that I pretty much created Malhavoc Press to write. This is the book that my work on 3rd Edition compelled me to do. It will come out in mid-2003. I'm already psyched."

I was talking, of course, of Arcana Unearthed. That's my attempt to do something really different. A whole new player's handbook. Obviously, as you can see, this is something that's been a long time coming. A lot of work and a lot of thought have gone into this product. More than anything I've done other than 3rd Edition itself. And now, I'm happy to say, it's getting a lot of playtesting (sorry -- we don't need any more playtesters at this time). This is going to be big. Our recent announcement of partner companies writing official, licensed Arcana Unearthed adventures helps demonstrate that, I think. And we will have more exciting announcements like that to come. This year there will be -- at least -- six Arcana Unearthed related products. And that's just this year. If you're looking for a change of pace, mid-2003 is the time to dive into Arcana Unearthed.

So as we look ahead, Sue and I are extremely busy putting together this monumental project. But that's not all Malhavoc Press is doing this year. Let's look at it month by month:

In February, Book of Eldritch Might III: The Nexus comes out in print. It'll be in stores right at the beginning of the month, and we're going to create a preview of it -- if you're not sure you want it, you can download the preview for free. In addition, around the middle of the month, we'll be releasing the PDF of Bruce Cordell's Mindscapes: A Psion's Guide. This is a 64-page sourcebook full of new psionics material, including a really amazing new psionics combat system.

In March, The Book of Hallowed Might comes out in print. And then, look for Mindscapes: Beasts of the Id as a PDF. This is Bruce's follow-up book -- 32 pages of all-new psionic monsters. It's very cool.

April brings yet another Bruce Cordell product, this one an event book called When the Sky Falls. It deals with a meteor strike and the effects it can have on your campaign world. It's 64 pages.

In May, Mindscapes (both A Psion's Guide and Beasts of the Id combined) comes out as a 96-page print release. And we'll have a new PDF product from Sean Reynolds called Anger of Angels. This large book (128 pages) will add to any campaign, in any time period. It deals with angels, obviously -- running them both as "monsters" and as PCs. It features vast amounts of detail on the organization of the heavenly hosts, what they do, why they do it, and so on. And lots of write-ups of new angel and demon types.

When June comes along, we'll have the print version of When the Sky Falls for sale. In July, we'll have the print version of Sean's Anger of Angels. You'll also be able to get the PDF of Skip Williams' Cry Havoc event book. This 96-page book deals with having a war in your campaign, and includes an all-new mass combat system. It's going to be great.

July also means Gen Con, where we'll debut my Arcana Unearthed: The Malhavoc Handbook. Mystic Eye Games and Fiery Dragon will also release their respective Arcana Unearthed adventures. I'm excited about this already.

August is when Arcana Unearthed will show up in stores. That same month, we'll release The Diamond Throne: Malhavoc Handbook II as a PDF. That way, if you want source material, magic items, and monsters right away to go along with Arcana Unearthed, you'll have them in this 96-page book. But that's not all....

In September, we're going to put out the Arcana Unearthed DM Screen and Player Guide. This is not just a cool screen, but also contains character sheets, conversion information for using Arcana Unearthed with standard d20 and vice versa, and more helpful stuff.

In October, Cry Havoc shows up in print. In November, The Diamond Throne: Malhavoc Handbook II ships to stores in print form.

The year might hold yet a few more surprises we aren't ready to reveal yet, but this already looks like a pretty cool lineup to me. I hope you'll agree that, if anything, it contains some innovative books. We're still really committed to putting out good products. I hope you'll come along for the ride.